Israel in talks with pharma companies about COVID-19 booster jab, says PM

Israelis discussingCOVID-19boostershots with drugcompanies, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday, as the country grapples with an outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday the Delta variant has been detected in at least 111 countries in the last two months and was likely to become the dominant variant globally over the coming months. InIsrael, it makes upabout90 per centof confirmed cases, according to the Health Ministry.

"We are in a dialogue with thepharmacompaniesabouttheboosterissue, whether aboosterof the original shot or an adaptedboostershot," Bennett told a news conference in Jerusalem, where he detailed his cabinet's strategy for curbing the Delta outbreak.

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InIsrael,about60 per centof the 9.3 million population has received at least one dose of the vaccine produced by Pfizerand partner BioNTech. Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The variant, first identified in India, has led to a surge in cases worldwide and is setting back economic recovery plans.

Researchers and drugmakers are looking at tweaking vaccines quickly to prevent them from losing effectiveness against new, emerging variants.

Having driven down coronavirus infections to single-digit numbers and zero deaths,Israellifted its social-distancing restrictions by mid-June. But the sharp rise in daily infections presently stands at a weekly average ofabout500 and some curbs have been re-introduced.

Bennett appealed to the public and said Delta can be beaten back within five weeks without a costly lockdown if people act responsibly by getting vaccinated, wearing masks indoors and keeping social distancing.

His strategy rests on an approach thatsaysthe high vaccination rates among risk groups will see far less severeCOVID-19 cases than in previous outbreaks, even as infections climb.

Pfizer/BioNTech plans to ask USregulators within weeks to authorise aboosterdose of itsCOVID-19 vaccine, citing thus far unpublished evidence of greater risk of infection six months after inoculation and Delta's spread.

USand European Union authorities have said it's unclear yet whetherboostershots are needed. Scientists have said thecompanies' move was premature.

Israel's health ministry said on Mondaythere was still not enough unequivocal evidence for the necessity of a thirdboostershot for the wider public, though it has approved a thirdjabfor people with compromised immune systems on a case by case basis.

Some studies have shown Pfizer's vaccine to be highly effective against Delta, though somewhat reduced in comparison with other coronavirus strains.